Sanctuary Ultra Lounge

First time here and I was very impressed. Super nice server and high quality food. I came for happy hour for a rare date night with hubby and ordered the tri-​tip skewers with choice of fries or vegetable. Very tasty! The sauce was delicious and the portion was just right. With my $ 4 hh glass of wine, I was a happy girl.

Had a great time. The music was slaying the crowd. I enjoyed the atmosphere. Cool and swanky. Nice crowd. Ready to have fun and let their hair down in the most respectful way. You gotta check it out. The only down part is the bathroom situation doesn’t match the place. 2 bathrooms (men and women) and each only are individual/​single bathrooms. Yes, it was well over 100 people and there were only 2 toilets. The bathroom line was as long as the lone to get a drink.

Earlier I wrote of my disappointment that your establishment was not open at the time specified on Unilocal.I received a message stating that an employee was out sick and unfortunately no one was available to open on time on that Saturday. I was generously offered a free meal. I declined free meal. I would feel terrible benefiting from an employees illness.
Thank you for the offer. I will come back with my friends and experience your restaurant. Thank you.

Enjoyed the food and service. We don’t get Date nights too often. But when we do we enjoy going here. We love the lounge environment and the owners are always there. The place seems very well managed and it’s always nice going to a place where the people care.

Today was the first time I went to Sanctuary it was very nice inside. It was not too loud and the food was really good. I will definitely come back.

Won ton tacos the best, sliders are the best, great service and great staff and great music. Definitely recommend

There’s a lot to like about Sanctuary, and it is quickly becoming one of my regular spots in Livermore. There are a few issues, which I will get to, but I would give Sanctuary a solid 3.5 stars.
The place looks great on the inside. There’s something about the cozy, pub-​like décor that makes you feel immediately welcome. The staff are always friendly, helpful, and very attentive. I’ve been there several times now, haven’t had the same server twice, and they have all been great.
They do have larger entrees, but Sanctuary strikes me as more of a tapas and smaller dish place. That being sad, they have some excellent offerings. Their wonton tacos are unique, delicious, and a must-​have dish — especially on Tuesdays when they are $ 1. The calamari, bacon bruschetta, and Sanctuary fries are also a treat. I haven’t yet had any of their burgers or sandwiches, but they look great and the people I have been with have all said they are good.
My biggest complaint with Sanctuary is that they have a bit of an identity crisis later in the evenings when they start playing obnoxiously loud club music in the back. The much quieter, conversational atmosphere quickly transforms the restaurant into a dance party. Unfortunately, this forces most of the casual drinkers (read: money spenders) out to find somewhere else. It literally goes from nice pub to «WHAAAT? WHAT DID YOU SAYYYY? HUH?» in an instant. Know that this is going to happen, and be prepared with a plan b.
My other complaint is more of a minor frustration. Sanctuary relies on Open Table to make reservations. I had company coming into town this year late on Thanksgiving, didn’t have time to cook, and needed to eat out. There were three restaurants on 1^st Street with openings on Open Table, including Sanctuary, so I booked a table because of all the positives I mentioned above. We walked from my apartment to Sanctuary, which was… you guessed it: closed. Fortunately, the other two restaurants on Open Table were actually open and the night was not ruined (kudos to them). Not sure if the communication mishap was the fault of Sanctuary or Open Table, but I remember seeing other booked tables when I made my reservation, so we were unfortunately not the only ones effected.
Grumbles aside, Sanctuary is definitely worth a visit. Check it out!

Great burger and beer joint. I’m interested in trying the burger with the peanut butter on it, but I chicken out every time. I’ve had the other food and it’s great too, but the burgers are my favorite. The service is good and the ambience is how I like it. It’s loud and lively, everyone is enjoying themselves watching sports, talking, eating and having a great time. I would have given them a 5, but when my husband informed the waitress that his beer wasn’t that cold, she brought him a frosted mug, instead of taking the not so cold beer back and bringing him a colder one. We frequent this spot quite a bit and have no other complaints whatsoever.

Cool place to hang out and grab a drink & listen to some music. They also have dancing in the back room with a pretty good DJ. He was playing an array of music from today’s hits and some older music too, which was nice Worth a visit if you’re in downtown Livermore. I’ll definitely go again.

I have been to Sanctuary many times and here is my feedback.
Food — I took one of my co-​workers from out of town there. After leaving there, he said the burger he had was the best ever.
Party Atmosphere — we had a company get together sometime ago. Some people had too much of good time and they were hurting next day — if you know what I mean :)
Customer Service — their bartenders and servers are always friendly and approachable.
Lastly, my understanding is that they offer catering services to weddings and corporate events and I was told that they do fantastic jobs.

My wife and I visit semi-​regularly. Probably twice a month or more. We love the happy hour specials, atmosphere, service & food. The quality of the food is good and the drinks are generous! The servers are usually very attentive, even when they’re busy on weekends late in the evenings.
We’ve met Gianni several times at his establishments and have even run into him at church service on Sunday’s. He’s a kind and sincere man who goes out of his way for his customers and so for the life of me, I can’t understand how anyone would try to take unfair advantage of his special food offerings beyond reason, then complain about it shamelessly. Also, anyone questioning his integrity seriously needs their head examined. I would trust this guy with my house keys & bank book any day. And I know of only 2 other people I could say that about!
Sanctuary rocks. Some people are just unreasonable and expect too much for too little. Give an inch, take a mile. You know the type.

I was in the Sanctuary last night (Wednesday 11÷18÷15) and I had the sliders and they were delicious. I enjoyed every bite. I normally have the Won ton taco’s but decided to try something new and I am glad I did. The staff at the Sanctuary were so wonderful and attentive. I Love to go there because they all make me feel so special. I will be back on Wednesday again to have the Sliders again… Thank you very much for everything

Great space, good music, good crowd. One the few «Lounges» in Livermore. They serve food and the bartenders are fast and friendly!

To the owner. Your very very rude. I’m giving you a very bad Unilocal review. You don’t treat your regular customers like this. Or any customers. How dear you to tell me I’m not ordering drinks so your numbers will go up and I wanna order 14 mini burgers. You don’t have a minimum order requirement. So next time treat your customers very. So we can come back and tell other people about our experience. Rude rude rude. I come there very week. I going to tell all my friends about this. I don’t think we will be coming back. eVeR.

This place is ok, but not the greatest place to go for food or drink, but not too bad either. The inside is chill and has a nice environment. The drinks weren’t that great, but I guess for the happy hour price they were ok. We ordered jumbo shrimp for appetizers and they were the smallest jumbo shrimp I’ve ever seen. The calamari was ok, but wasn’t the best we’ve had either. Their BBQ sliders were good though, can’t complain about those. We decided to leave and grab another drink else where, this place didn’t really make us want to stay.

Kitchen closed at 9 pm. The cook was a jerk to the bar tender.
Too bad. Place was packed and people were going to eat and drink. Just saw four people walk out.

OMG! Wild Salmon was soo good. Perfectly grilled, with grilled sweet corn and cherry tomatoes, over a bed of brown rice and quinoa. What really made it was the shredded basil on top. Love it! $ 15 for a large portion and a salad is a great deal, too!
Atmosphere in the restaurant is nice, red walls but good lighting. Drinks are about $ 10, a little pricy, but there’s a good selection and they look tasty.

This place was TERRIBLE! Went downtown to watch the Livermore fireworks for the 4^th of July and decided to check this place out for dinner with a few friends because it was close to the event.
Being a vegetarian, I’m used to limited options or having to modify dishes to meet my dietary needs. That being said, I’m not too critical of a dish that doesn’t wow me when it has been prepared according to my request rather than how it was intended to be prepared. They have a bacon bruschetta on the menu and I asked if they could prepare it without the bacon and cheese. The server said they absolutely could… what she ended up bringing to the table was a dish I couldn’t believe ANY restaurant would allow to leave their kitchen. There were five tiny, thin, pieces of dry bread each with one thin dry slice of tomato with tiny bits of basil. The entire table stared at my dish, visibly shocked at how pathetic it looked and I asked the server why there wasn’t any oil or garlic on it. She quickly stated they don’t put oil or garlic on their bruschetta and walked off.
Now, I understand that this was a dish I asked to modify, but I used to serve for a few years and if anyone ordered a dish and asked to modify it in such a way that the dish would TOTALLY SUCK, I would warn them or suggest something else! If someone was clearly unhappy with a dish I brought out and asked about something as simple as olive oil, I WOULD OFFER TO BRING SOME OUT TO THE TABLE! I also don’t understand how any respectable kitchen could put out a dish that looked and tasted as pathetic as that.
The cherry on top of this sad excuse for bruschetta is that when our food finally arrived (about 30 minutes after ordering), it wasn’t even ready! She said the bruschetta would be right out and everyone at my table sat and waited another 10 minutes while their food went cold before it finally arrived. YES, $ 11 SLICED DRY TOMATOES AND BREAD CAME 10 MINUTES AFTER EVERYONE ELSE’S MEALS.
TERRIBLE service, terrible food. Everyone else said their meals were mediocre (steak skewers, chicken pesto penne, pork won ton tacos, chicken pesto pizza).
Won’t return.

Dropped in solo after reading multiple Unilocal reviews and with a recommendation from family… Went early and I’m glad I did! It’s Saturday night and almost the entire place was reserved at 7:30 for multiple large parties. But, they were really nice and let me sit at a reserved table.
I ordered The Crispy Wanton Pork Tacos and they were delicious. Not too filling, which was nice since I had a big lunch. They were artfully made. and thus kinda pricey, but super tasty. I couldn’t quite figure out how to navigate eating them… they were too big and messy to pick up… so, I just dug in with a fork and knife, grateful for the extra napkins they gave me! They were billed as «spicy» but weren’t… a few dashes of tapatillo fixed them right up.
I was really tempted by they’re classy cocktail menu, I just didn’t feel like drinking… But, the place is real swanky and I can see how meeting up there for drinks and a bite with some friends would be really fun.
The staff was a pre-​occupied setting up for the parties, and one party showed up early with some demands. Everyone worked double time, even going so far as moving huge pieces of furniture to accommodate their requests… They didn’t complain, they just hustled up and moved huge couches and tables with big smiles on their faces… very classy! And, despite all this extra work, my server was attentive, gracious, and swift. The food came out fast and she brought me an iced tea refill without even being asked! Love that!
All and all not a bad solo-​dining experience… but, it will be better next time, with friends/​family…

Sanctuary seems like a chill place if you’re looking to come have a few drinks and dance with your friends. However, I’d stray FAR away from eating here.
A friend and I came here Saturday night and wanted to grab some food before we explored downtown Livermore. We ordered their chicken penne pasta and some capirinhas. The drinks were great but about an hour after I had the pasta I started to feel nauseous. I immediately ran to their poorly maintained restrooms to throw up. After that we left so I could get some air and water. Another 30 minutes go by and I needed to vomit again. I then was up for the rest of the night with terrible stomach pains and nausea. It got so bad I considered going to the ER. I texted my friend and he said he started to have the same symptoms. I hope Sanctuary reconsiders how they handle their food sanitation